by Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

by Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The retail doors will fly open Thanksgiving evening with super-aggressive deals aimed at weaning you away from online stores.

So what's the verdict? Will you brave the crowds or shop from the comforts of home?

"Black Friday is terrifying," says Nyq Bonaventura of Chicago, who prefers to hover over his computer waiting for the latest e-mail update from Amazon, which promises new bargains every ten minutes all week long.

"It's better than waiting at a big box store, where you can be trampled," he says.

Matt Leiva, who lives in northern Virginia, prefers shopping in-store. "If you order it online, it doesn't feel like you're purchasing anything," he says.

Alan Morgan, who lives near Philadelphia, is a retail shopper too. He'll be at his local Wal-Mart because "that's the easiest place, and the one I know."

David Mueller, from Olympia, Wash., says he just searches for the product he wants online and orders from wherever Google points him to with the best price.

Elan Siminov, Hayley Shapiro, Anna Gregeor and Mia Spector, high school students from the Denver area, know exactly where they'll be - shopping at the local mall and checking out Target, Best Buy and outlet stores.

Why Thursday night? "It's more fun," says Shapiro, 17.

Leo Ruscillo, on vacation from England, will be back home by Thanksgiving, but he won't be shopping Thursday or Friday.

They don't celebrate the holiday back home. When do the big sales usually start? "After Christmas," he says.

Readers: Retail or online stores? And if online, which stores will you be going to? Answer me with the hashtag #usatodayshopping and I'll retweet you. I'm @jeffersongraham on Twitter.